Videos show Turkey's Erdogan boasted letting builders avoid earthquake codes

 Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visits the city center destroyed by last the Feb. 6 earthquake in Kahramanmaras, southern Turkey, on Feb. 8

Turkey — Videos from a few years ago showing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan praising some of the housing developments that collapsed, killing hundreds of people, have surfaced as he attempts to defend his response to last Monday's deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake. 

Critics claim that by being given permission to ignore important safety requirements, contractors increased their earnings at the expense of locals' safety.

The recordings have increased public indignation over the delayed response time to the world's deadliest earthquake in more than a decade, which killed more than 35,000 people in Turkey and neighboring Syria and left many more injured and without a place to live, food to eat, or heat in the depth of winter.